Woodbine Entertainment has come out with further support for the banning of one-handed whipping.
.......during its summer meet Mohawk Racetrack receives complaints from customers who are outraged at the sight and sound of horses being whipped one-handed though the stretch by drivers. With strict enforcement of a rule requiring one line in each hand, drivers will quickly adapt and this will serve as one of the initiatives going forward to improve the public perception of harness racing in Ontario.
It's going to happen. Not an if but a when.
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4 comments:
While any improvement on the whipping rule is an improvement, I think the best rule on whipping jsut came out in Indiana. Not only do you need to keep your hands on both lines, but you need to hold them tight towards your chest. Basically, the only thing you will be able to do is whip with your wrists, you won't be able to use your arms.
It's ludicrous that WEG caters to a couple of people who don't even understand the sport. Does it make sense to cater to them or your real customer base (surprise THE GAMBLERS) who want and expect their horse to be whipped when they have their money down?
Well, I realize there are people who will gamble on anything (I don't mean this in a derrogatory manner), but for those who enjoy gambling on horses, they may not have the opportunity to do so if the game does not change for modern sensibilities and that means consideration of animal welfare. Don't think that can happen? I am sure there are some people at least in the states who used to enjoy gambling on greyhounds who no longer can due to the current movement to outlay greyhound racing. The most recent state to outlaw it is Massachussets. At the end of this year, greyhound racing will be banned.
WEG and Indiana are not outlawing whipping. You will still be able to use a whip on the horse; the intention is to keep the horses from having the s**t beaten out of them or at least keep people from perceiving that is what is going on.
I am not one for the whipping debate because it is such a minor issue to me compared to many of the others. However, times have changed. This is going to happen, probably should happen, so we better make sure we do it right and enforce it.
In Europe people have been betting harness racing for years without one handed whipping. Just because people here curse and throw a program at a screen when a driver is 'not getting into the horse' does not mean it is correlated to success of the sport as a gambling game.
All my opinion. I am interested to see the new rules and how they are enforced.
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